Representative of constituents from Indonesia, represented by the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, the Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) and the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Union (KSPI) participated at the ILO’s Regional Academy on Gender, Inclusion and the Future of Asia Pacific from 28 November to 2 December in Bangkok, Thailand.

Conducted by the ILO’s International Training Turin (ITC) Turin, the Regional Academy that was also known as Gender Academy is among the flagship and most iconic events of the ITC-ILO held every two years. This is also the first time the Academy organized outside of Turin and have a specific focus on the Asia-Pacific region. During the five-day training, the participants were expected to have better understanding and capacity regarding the global mandate and regional perspectives as well as practical tools for action to end violence and harassment in the world of work.

The Gender Academy was officially opened by Chihoko Asada Miyakawa, Regional Director for ILO Office for Asia and the Pacific. During the training programme, Chidi King, Branch Chief of Gender, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (GEDI) from ILO Geneva explained that “to avoid reproducing gender and other inequalities, policies for economic recovery must pay attention to the causes of pre-existing unequal gender patterns in the world of work and address structural constraints inhibiting women’s access to decent jobs."

At the end of the Gender Academy, the participants were also expected to have the ability to analyse the world of work and workplaces from a gender and non-discrimination perspective; Identify measures to prevent and address workplace inequalities, discrimination, violence and harassment and develop strategies and use tools for changing mind-sets, forging alliances and initiating sustainable change.

Appreciating the knowledge and experience gained from the Gender Academy, Anggara Yudha Zunivar, Analist of Industrial Relations and Social Security of the Ministry of Manpower, said that “these are not easy topics, for sure. However, through knowledge sharing on best practices from participants coming from other Asia and the Pacific countries, I learnt new insights that can help in the process of developing action plans based on the condition and context of Indonesia.”

Similar insights were also shared by Mira Sonia, Apindo’s Committee of Labour Regulation and Andriani Puspita Ningrum, Women Protection Analyst of Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection. They both agreed that the Gender Academy has helped them broadening their knowledge and developing a network. They were also eager to contribute in the development of better programmes and policies related to inclusivity, violence and harassment in the world of work.